Pool diver safety and research apparatus

Abstract

A cable car or the like, operable by either muscular or electric power -- e.g. by a stationary motor -- is provided with a railway having a runway whose side walls serve to guide the car during travel along the runway, as well as with an abutment for abruptly ending said travel at the edge of a pool (automatic cut-off means being actuated just prior thereto), while a diver who has derived momentum from belly-down riding on top of the car is consequently propelled outwardly over the pool along whatever trajectory may have been pre-calculated. Although applicable to living divers at recreational pools, the invention is primarily useful for an unlimited range of diver tests via use of midget-size facsimilies of human divers, e.g. dolls readily available at store toy counters and having swivel joints internally frictionized so as to maintain the limbs and heads in any postures initially selected as well as to keep them there until subsequently changed, and wherein the arms can readily be rigidly maintained in straight-ahead or downwardly-dangling postures, as desired, by use of rigid splints. Desired body weight and/or density also can readily be achieved by appropriately dimensioned waistbands of thin sheet lead, plus desired locating of the center of gravity in the process.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. In combination a swimming pool having a deck   a railway having a runway flanked by side walls rising higher than said runway   a car provided with rollers disposed for traveling along said runway between said walls   said railway extending from a starting point distant from said pool toward a point adjacent an edge of said pool   an abutment located at said last-mentioned point and disposed for blocking movement of said car when impacted by it during use   said car having an upward-facing top portion disposed for supporting a diver reclining thereon in belly-down prone position   whereby impacting of said abutment by said car abruptly terminates movement of the latter, thereby permitting momentum acquired by said diver during said travel to propel him outwardly of said edge and over water in the pool   
     
     
       2. The combination of claim 1 which comprises a stationary motor and wherein said car is a cable car said motor being disposed to move said car along said runway to a point in advance of but in juxtaposition to said abutment   said motor being provided with automatic means for deactivating it prior to inter-contact between said front of said car and said abutment   
     
     
       3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said motor is an electric motor and said means is an electric switch disposed for being automatically opened prior to such intercontacting 
     
     
       4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said car comprises a frame and rigid polymeric foam contained within said frame, said foam serving to strengthen said frame against stress caused by intercontacting of said car with said abutment 
     
     
       5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said polymeric foam comprises a polymer selected from the class of polystyrene, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, and nylon. 
     
     
       6. In combination a swimming pool having a deck   a runway overlying said deck and terminating at an abutment located adjacent to said pool   a car for traveling  along said runway toward said abutment   said abutment being  disposed to block such traveling when contacted by said car   said car having an  upward-facing top portion disposed for supporting a diver reclining thereon in belly-down prone position with his arms optionally extending either directly frontward or at any desired downward degree in outside juxtaposition to the sides of said car   the front of said top portion being higher at the instant of such blocking than the top of said abutment   the length of said car exceeding the height of said car,  said height exceeding the width of said car, and said width at least equalling the width of said abutment   whereby momentum acquired by said diver during said traveling propels him freely past said abutment and out over water in said pool, irrespective of whether or not his arms were extending at a desired downward degree as aforesaid   
     
     
       7. The combination of claim 6 which comprises a stationary motor and wherein said car is a cable car said motor being disposed to move said car along said runway to a point in juxtaposition to said abutment, and   said motor being provided with automatic means for deactivating it prior to inter-contact between said front of said car and said abutment   
     
     
       8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said motor is an electric motor and said means is an electric switch disposed for being automatically opened prior to such inter-contacting 
     
     
       9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said car comprises a frame and rigid polymeric foam contained within said frame, said foam serving to strengthen said frame against stress caused by such aforesaid blocking 
     
     
       10. The combination of claim 9 wherein said polymeric foam comprises a polymer selected from the class of polystyrene, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, and nylon.